...work stuff I promise!

Not much time today, so only two links I should follow up at some time and actually read in-depth!

The 5 Top Social Media Blog Posts For 2010

SWOT Analysis of Opera - by Stephen Phillips, General Director, State Opera of South Australia

Time: ALL TIME 100 NOVELS

Ok, I usually hate things like this, but it's Time mag so I suppose it has some credibility. I'm doing abysmal with only 13 out of 100, but I have time I suppose to catch up. Happy reading!

The ALL TIME 100 NOVELS

TIME critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo pick the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present. Read more

Free things to do in Sydney...the Beta version

So, we have been threatening to write the book for years. I'm sure we have discussed a Mike Whitney inspired tv show and yep, now we up to a blog. But The Sagacious Friend and I have always wanted to create a list of free things to do in Sydney. Not one of those 'show a tourist' round kind of things, but stuff for the locals that doesn't impact the purse strings, ok well maybe only slightly touches the purse strings, or at the very least gives a substantial discount.

Moral? Legal? Well...you decide. Have I done most of them...well no, but then I've always been a goodie goodie...

• Attend a graduation morning tea or lunch = find the catering spread (actually I graduate for my Masters in May...pop in!)
• Attend a lecture at your local uni = randomly pick a building and walk in
• Validate your parking at UTS library = if you know where to look
• Hop a boat to your own island = actually not free but cheap and awesome (oh I did that one!)
• Free breakfast UTS? = dress like a student
• A dip at one of the secret pools of Sydney = can you find McCallum pool on the map?

Got any other ideas to share?

Me tutor. You Student.

Who hoo I'm a tutor! I'm taking a semester of Marketing Foundations tutorials at UTS this Autumn. It's been a long time since I thought back on the fun that was this mandatory marketing subject...(and I did it at Sydney Uni, so there ends my comparison) but flicking through the textbook, ahh the memories! Hello product life cycle, consumer behaviour fundamentals, segmentation, qualitative market research and the joys of pricing strategies!

Somehow I think I'm going to really enjoy this! (perhaps a little too much!)

The no-dig garden

About a year or so ago, Mother and I attended a no-dig garden course provided free by the City of Sydney in conjunction with The Watershed. What is no-dig gardening you ask? Well go google it, but basically it means no soil, no digging. Layers of newspaper, lucerne or other straw and manure...that's it, and of course your plants. The original workshop was great and we both came away with a recycled plastic container full of our new mini no-dig gardens. A year on these are fairing fantastically and have kept us in a supply of parsley and onion chives, only recently needing a few layers of top up.

Not one to let a great gardening idea stop there, I decided I needed a larger no-dig garden. An experiment to see what might work (or not work) on a larger scale. So using my best 'The Secret" vibes I focused on gaining a large container to use as my garden bed. Well and behold...an old bathtub was provided by the lovely Neal.

It sat for a while, waiting as I dreamed of walking out the door and snipping a salad for dinner and running my hands through the fragrant herbs after a light rain shower. An afternoon of work and my dream was a reality.

Step 1: layer by thy name

Step 2: yes it was slightly smelly...

Step 3: and repeat!

Step 4: Almost there!

Step 5: Plant!

Step 6: Ta da! I present, my bathtub no-dig garden!

Watch out for updates in the coming months!

More than bums on seats - who would of thought!

So another month but finally shaking off the haze of summer. How do I know, well? The Australia Council launched a new research report today, nicely called...'More than bums on seats: Australian participation in the Arts' and a few favourite commentators have picked up on it....today I'm going with Ben Eltham who points out some of the study's limitations.

As an arts marketer working in an organisation heavily funded by Ozco can I say the dream is 'more than' bums on seats. Idealistically we toil everyday for those snippets of success when it is more than the transactional relationship. For those moments when an audiences' heart and mind is touched by something. A half forgotten memory just recalled, sheer pleasure and amazement, a chill down the spine, a moment out of the mind when an attendee just connects far beyond the exchange of cash for the 'service' of entertainment.

So what insights do Ozco have for us?

Young people are highly engaged with the arts.

Ok....er...

Oh, now this is getting interesting...Groups who were less engaged with the arts:

Those born overseas in a non-English speaking country have significantly lower levels of both creative and receptive participation compared to the total Australian population

Those for whom the main language spoken at home is not English are less likely to attend arts events.

People with a serious illness or disability experience significant difficulties accessing the various services offered by the arts and consequently had much lower levels of arts participation.

Regional areas have significantly lower levels of attendance at music events than inner metropolitan areas.

Rural residents are more likely than inner and outer metropolitan residents to have had a below average year of receptive participation in the arts compared to the year before.

Ok, there's a market or two and some cool segmentation names: The Lovers (heavy participation), The Flirters (influenced by friends to attend), the Unattached (can't see the relevance) and The Outsiders (keep me away from the pretentious art snobs). Kudos on the segmentation names to whom ever came up with those...they gave me a laugh.

And to top if off it's full of buzz words like 'building engagement', one of my favourites! I'm off to read the report in depth but again I have the feeling it will be more of the same, great stats and thoughts...but somehow, lacking the oomph and the final answer to assist us searching for that holy grail of 'more than bums on seats'.